If Only…
Mornington Peninsula, Australia
If only we’d stayed in and drunk. My back was killing me and the sea was now lapping at the bottom of the doors of the Land Cruiser. The engine screamed loudly as Dave tried unsuccessfully to remove the wheels from the mud. Fifty thousand dollars of brand new Land Cruiser was quickly being consumed by water and there didn’t appear to be a thing we could do about it.
It had all started well enough. Admittedly the weather was the worst we’d seen since arriving at the Mornington Peninsula, but Dave wanted to show this Pommie backpacker what fishing in Australia was all about. I think he also wanted to take the opportunity to drive Roscoe’s brand new Land Cruiser, as a four wheel drive was needed to launch the boat from the beach. Who was I to argue?
We launched the fifteen-foot motorboat from the beach and chugged out into the bay. There was light drizzle and a cool breeze, nothing like the thirty degrees we’d been used to, but perfectly pleasant all the same. After travelling far enough out into the bay Dave cut the engine and we unpacked the fishing rods.
The first cast was the signal for the rain to pour and the wind to pick up to near gale-force. The immediate decision was taken to return to shore and abandon the day as a loss. This was easier said than done, as the boat’s engine decided not to re-start.
This was the cue for Dave to attack the motor with a vengeance in an attempt to start it. The rest of us looked helplessly on as Dave worked on the motor using a combination of mechanical know-how and swearing. The rain was now lashing down and the waves were beginning to reach threatening heights in the normally placid bay. After twenty minutes of violence, the engine coughed and burped into life and we headed back to shore, mightily relieved.
As we approached the beach the predictable happened and the rain eased. The decision to abandon the trip had already been taken, so we continued into the shallows to land the boat. Dave hopped out of the boat to fetch the Land Cruiser and trailer whilst the rest of us held the boat.
Dave reversed into the water and placed the trailer in front of the boat. The vehicle’s wheels were only in an inch of water at this point.
Pulling the boat onto the trailer proved to be far more difficult than launching it. The waves were still high and the tide strong. It was proving near impossible to drag the boat in the right direction. Suddenly a large wave hit the boat side on and propelled the entire boat onto my left shoulder, there was a crunching sound as my back screamed in objection. Pain surged down my back in a spasm. This left Luke and Kev to eventually drag the boat onto the trailer.
After all this messing around, Dave was relieved to be able to drive out of the sea. What he hadn’t realised was that the tide had come in rapidly. The water was now lapping above the wheels and threatening to engulf the whole vehicle. As soon as he attempted to drive forward the Land Cruiser stuck fast. Fifty thousand dollars was about to be consigned to a watery grave.
We had to think fast. Luke was sent running to find someone with a towrope while the rest of us attempted to detach the trailer. Our luck was in as a kind local rushed to the beach in his Land Rover. Dave quickly attached the towrope, jumped back into the Land Cruiser and shouted our saviour to pull us out.
The vehicle was saved! Unfortunately the trailer had not been detached so the Land Cruiser was closely followed by the front half of the trailer, bouncing along behind.
Fortunately the boat and the rest of the trailer were soon rescued. Dave was forced to take the vehicle for a steam clean before returning it to the blissfully unaware Roscoe. When querying why the Land Cruiser was so sparkling clean, he was told that as the vehicle got so muddy on the beach it was only fair to return it to him clean. As far as I’m aware he still believes this version of events.
If you enjoyed this story, read Rob’s story about hiking in Tasmania
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